Tupe and the carrying on of the same “activities”

Tupe and the carrying on of the same “activities”

A question on any TUPE service provision change is whether the new provider of the service will be carrying on the same activities. If not, no TUPE.
 
In this case a transport company provided warehouse and distribution services for a client. That contract ended and a new company took on the work. The new company accepted the warehouse staff under TUPE but refused the drivers, saying they intended to use sub contractors so they were not carrying on the driving activities.  The Appeal Tribunal looked at the contract, which said the new company would be responsible for the driving element (even if they were intending to use sub contractors) and therefore TUPE did apply.
 
The lesson here is be careful what you allow in a contract when agreeing to it, if it’s worded wrongly, you may get more employees than you bargained for.
 
The full case can be read at the following link:
http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2014/0301_13_2103.html

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